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Tallulah

The last time Ellen Page and Allison Janney shared the (figurative) stage, it was in Juno: Page was the pregnant teen and Janney the surprisingly supporting stepmom. Now they’re reteamed in similarly maternal roles. Page plays a young drifter who kidnaps a baby, and Janney is the duped divorcee who believes herself to be a Grandma.

This is not a perfect movie by any means and yet you’re going to spend the next 4 minutes reading about its virtues. Why? Because this movie was written and directed by a woman (Sian Heder) and features three of the most complexly-written and -rendered female characters you’re going to see on the big (well small – it’s on Netflix) screen this year.

Although the movie goes through the obligatory police-crime drama, its focus is really on these 3 women and their relationship to the world. Tallulah and Margo in particular yearn to feel connected, to feel necessary to someone, but are terrified of what that means. To love so enormously is also to risk loss. Wanting to be needed can lead to feeling disposable. Carolyn, on the other hand (Tammy Blanchard), is the dismayed if distracted mother now missing one baby. Although her young child needs her very much, she neglects her in order to get those same feelings from a man. She ends up utterly alone – blamed, shamed, and full of regret.

The movie shifts tone rather abruptly – one minute Page and Janney are trading stiletto-sharp barbs, the next they’re unloading some Louis Vuitton-worthy emotional baggage. Page is a petite powerhouse and Janney an exceptionally talented opponent and the film is never better than when the two are struggling to find a path between their fierce independence and the need to show someone else their pain. Theirs is about as fucked up as a mother-daughter dynamic can get, but they come from such a real and honest place you can’t help but be drawn in. I am so proud to tell you about a movie in which women are taking care of themselves, and taking care of each other, and finding strength, not weakness, in accepting help from others. It’s heartening, just fucking inspiring, to see women taking this leap on behalf of all of us: reach out. Connect. It’s scary and risky and worth it.

Editor’s note: this post was not intended as an endorsement of kidnapping. Back away from the baby.

21 thoughts on “Tallulah”

I’m glad it’s on Netflix. It sounds like the kind of movie I would prefer to watch alone (classic introvert?), so the challenge now will be to find a time when no one is around! Thanks for the review. Take care.

I just watched it. You’re right. Page’s character is so raw and primal that you’re immediately interested in her every thought, which makes it kind of a bummer at the end, when we see Janney’s character in the final image instead of her’s. Still, it’s an incredible film. Love that Ted Lucas song playing during the end credits too.

I really liked this movie, the acting was amazing and the story felt very rich. It’s nice when you have all these unlikable characters but you still want to see them on screen, versus wishing they’d get off it.

I like Ellen Page and really enjoy Allison Janney, ever since West Wing. She is such a natural actress, funny but her facial expressions seem appropriate in most situations. She doesn’t just recite lines. . . I will have to hope it is picked up on a rental movie, either library or Redbox. I am so stretched in my budget, no Netflix. Thanks for the interesting review, both pros and cons, Jay. Enjoy your weekend! 🙂